Wednesday, August 2, 2017

Maurice and the Clichés - C'est la Vie (1982, RMS)

I learned of this combo not in 1982 when this was released, rather a good 25 years later online. From what little I've been able to glean, Maurice and the Clichés ostensibly had origins both in Vancouver, BC and Seattle. There's not much of a timeline out there to gauge them by, but C'est la Vie appears to be there sophomore salvo, kicking off with the single "Soft Core." The song in question is a deadpan, yet sardonic spoke/sung piece with vague references to, you guessed it, pornography. The song's mildly robotic tenor soon gives way to the considerably more tuneful, driving modus operandi Maurice and the Clichés are revered for, at least in some small circles. "It's All Talk," "Beautiful Girls," and the swift, ringing title track, are gold nuggets with turn-of-the-decade power pop emblazoned all over them, that will do aficionados of Elvis Costello and early Joe Jackson just fine.